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School bus driver contract talks run past midnight

A possible strike or lockout following the deadline at 12:01 a.m. Thursday could affect transportation to and from school for 8,500 students at the Toronto public and Catholic boards and thousands more in York Region.

School bus drivers could be out on strike as early as 12:01 Thursday after talks hit an impasse between the union and First Student Inc. Wesdesday afternoon.
(Vince Talotta / Toronto Star File Photo)

No decision had been made as negotiations to avert a school bus strike for students in Toronto and York Region continued into the early morning past the 12:01 a.m. deadline, Thursday.

Thousands of students in Toronto and York Region may be making their own way to school Thursday unless negotiations between school bus drivers and their employer are successful in averting a strike before the midnight deadline.

Talks between the union representing bus drivers and First Student bus company appeared to have stalled Wednesday afternoon, although both sides claimed they wanted to continue bargaining in hopes of reaching an agreement.

By early evening, Unifor Local 4268 reported the union and First Student were heading back to the table.

“The company wants to resume some talks,” Local 4268 president Deb Montgomery told reporters, adding she had no other details to report.

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When asked if there’s a chance a strike could be avoided, she said “there’s always hope when you’re talking.”

In a statement earlier in the day, Montgomery said First Student had left the table and that instead of negotiating, “indicated that it would prefer to focus on shutting down operations.”

“Currently it pays more to deliver pizza than it does to deliver children safely and soundly to school,” said union spokesperson Jenny Ahn.

First Student spokesperson Jay Brock said the company received a financial offer from the union Tuesday evening and had made no move to call off talks.

“What I can tell you is that we want to continue to negotiate in good faith for both parties because we understand the impact this going to cause for the district, the students and everyone there,” he said in an interview from the company’s Cincinnati head office.

In Toronto, a bus strike would interrupt service for 6,000 Catholic board students in 46 schools and 2,500 kids at 42 schools in the Toronto District School Board. It would also affect almost 10,000 students at 51 York region public schools and 28 Catholic schools.

The boards have posted notices on their websites listing schools affected and advising parents to plan alternatives for getting kids to and from classes in the event of a strike.

If there is a strike or lockout following the 12:01 a.m. deadline Thursday, it will mark the third straight month of transportation chaos for school kids in the GTA. The unexpected driver shortage in September caused prolonged delays of up to 90 minutes on morning and afternoon routes, as drivers were forced to handle double or triple their usual routes.

Toronto parent Jacky Arminen was among those waiting to see whether Thursday morning would bring a scramble to get everyone to school on time. Her 12-year-old daughter takes the bus to and from St. John Catholic School every day and her 10-year-old takes it home.

But Arminen doesn’t blame the drivers. She drove a bus with First Student herself a decade ago for a few months.

“I’m extremely torn,” says Arminen, who says drivers don’t earn enough considering the challenges and responsibilities they face, and should be compensated for the time they spend driving and servicing their vehicles before and after completing their routes.

“I feel for them, I truly believe they should get paid more,” she said. “They do have an important job.”

But she also feels for parents with inflexible work schedules who could be left in the lurch by yet another interruption in service. Come Thursday if there’s a strike, Arminen said she’ll be ready to pitch in and help those parents by driving neighbourhood kids back and forth to school.

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